I got a phone call this morning saying that my nephew who's stationed in Afghanistan was badly injured. It was a tense few hours but he's stable. He is a Sergeant... It turns out that he and his 8 men were in a truck, following another truck, when the first truck hit an IUD. All the men in the second truck surrounded the injured in the first, forming a circle to protect them until help could arrive. They waited three hours. Then they saw a man walking fast toward them. Shaun, my nephew, raised his rifle and ordered him to stop. The man started running very fast toward them and then -- I don't know if Shaun got a shot off --- but the man blew himself up. Shaun was hit by shrapnel in the leg and is going into surgery tonight.

How crazy are these people out there? OMG. What was going on in that man's mind? I can't even comprehend the intense hatred for Americans that must lie behind that suicide.

We are all just relieved Shaun is alive. But when is this stupid, pointless, counterproductive exercise in futility that we call a war ever going to end? When are we going to stop the bleeding--life,limb and treasure, all for naught.

This is confirmation we need to get our fannies out of this jernt and let the idiots kill each other. I've tried to reconcile the Muslim thinking into my mind and all I get is a headache. These people have no regard for life or respect for it. So sorry about your nephew. Hope he recovers and gets home whole. WW

I skyped with my nephew, Shaun, on Sunday. He is okay. His hand is in a brace and he had 15 pieces of shrapnel removed... one piece in his face they are going to leave in. He is remaining in Afghanistan and will be back on duty after a month or so. He received a purple heart with a bunch of benefits like aid for his child's college tuition (nice).

No one died, thanks to Shaun's diligence... spotting this guy before he got any closer. He detonated his suicide vest about 15 meters away from 18 soldiers. Shaun was the closest. He was thrown to the ground. His rifle was blown ten feet away. He captain got a piece of shrapnel went through the throat to his spine. He'll be ok but was evacuated to Germany with a couple of others who were badly wounded.

They stopped to help a Special Forces truck. Turns out the truck flipped when a motorcycle pulled out in front of them in front of some shops near Kandahar airport. Nato (British) troops also stopped to help and that's when the suicide bomber appeared. Shaun said they made eye contact. It was a kid about 15 years old. He had the "look of death" on his face. They shave all facial hair (beards,etc) to prepare to present themselves to Allah after they die. Shaun spotted this kid coming round a corner and knew immediately he was there to kill the Americans. When Shaun yelled at him to stop and reached for his weapon, this kid started running fast toward them and blew himself up. There were body parts everywhere.

The news reports said that the Nato troops were the target. Well, no one died except the suicide bomber. I googled "suicide bomber Kandahar Nato Friday" and saw about 5 articles on various web sites. No doubt I'm now on the government's watch list!!

But can you imagine? A 15 year old boy.... So sad. So stupid. So unbelievable.